UK Consumers Turn Legit, as Legal Streaming of TV and Film Increases

Some stats released by the UK's Intellectual Property Office appear to show that legal streaming is on the rise, thanks to the likes of Netflix and Spotify making it easier to enjoy legal things than battle the endless Bittorrent blockades and understand how VPNs work.

The IPO says that there's been a 10 per cent increase in the number of people "accessing content through legal services" since 2013, with 62 per cent of internet users downloading or streaming some music, TV or film online -- an increase on the 56 per cent who'd futuristically consumed media without a physical object being involved a few years ago.

That said, we're still stealing things on an epic scale. Around a quarter of all those who watch films and listen to music online do so via illegal channels, with 26 per cent of listeners and 25 per cent of film watchers doing so through digital theft methods. As for music, we're a bit confused; the survey says 54 per cent of people access their online music through YouTube alone.

The most common excuse for illegal streaming was "because it’s free" with 25 per cent of media thieves saying they'd be less likely to do it if the existing legal services were cheaper. [Gov.uk]